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The Kreutzers at Wilton's

Brahms, Dohnanyi & Bartok
Mendelssohn & Trandafilowski


Bartok - Violin Sonata No 2
Dohnanyi - Serenade

Joachim - Scottisch Melodie
Brahms - Piano Quartet Op 25


Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin) ) Morgan Goff (Viola) Jessica Hayes (Cello) Aaron Shorr (piano)

Wilton's Music Hall
Classic Series
Monday 11th July 2011, Pre-concert talk 7pm, concert 7:30pm

Denied Heritage Lottery Fund grant and facing possible demolition whilst still awaiting completion of restoration, the Wilton's Music Hall residency of the Kreutzer Quartet has succeeded in achieving loyal regular audiences at this special venue, with its evocative, battered ambience and excellent acoustics.


This was a typically reourceful programme, with Aaron Schorr (who has recorded Beethoven Explored with Peter Sheppard Skærved) in Bartok's challenging 2nd Sonata of 1922 and the Brahms quartet illustrated. In one of his wide-ranging off the cuff pre-concert talks (don't miss those!) he drew links between such disparate figures associated in England as Jelly D'Aranyi and Peter Warlock with Bartok, and in the previous generation Anglophile Joachim; all too complicated to summarise here...

The high spot was the Dohnanyi string trio, one of the finest ever for a difficult medium, and the roisterous conclusion of the evening was the Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto. My illustration features a fifth participant in the performance. The page-turner (not always an easy task) was Wilton's artistic director Frances Mayhew, who was thanked and praised by Peter S-S at the end as the leader of a team which has done everything imaginable to ensure that Wilton's will succeed in bridging the funding shortfall to keep this precious historical venue going.*

Peter Grahame Woolf

 

 

Mendelssohn & Trandafilowski

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (1822) and Trandsfilovski Diptych

6 June 2012

* The future of Wilton's Music Hall is now assured, and this was the last concert there before its closure for some months for structural renovation; every effort will be made not to compromise its unique atmosphere.

The concert took the form of a celebration, with musicians and guests "from all over the world". It attracted a full house, in the body of the hall and filling the balcony too, a remarkable achievement in which the Kreutzers have played a significant role in creating a growing audience.



We look forward to the re-opening and to the Kreutzers renewing their residency; meanwhile, they are engaged for the summer recording and touring abroad, including to Sweden.

Peter Grahame Woolf